The Fourth Doctor transmits a distress call, as the Rani kidnaps the
First and Second Doctors. Ensnared in a time loop, the Seventh Doctor
and Ace find themselves in Albert Square, Walford. As they bounce back
and forth between 1973, 1993 and 2013, the Doctor's regeneration and the
identity of his companion become unstuck in time. The Rani is assembling
a vast intergalactic menagerie in order to harness the power of a time
tunnel and control galactic evolution. The final ingredient needed is a
human -- and one of the Doctor's companions will be her victim.

Production

By September 1989, it was clear that Doctor Who was about to endure
its second hiatus in four years. Unlike the one-year production delay
imposed in 1985, however, it was apparent that the programme's
twenty-seventh season was a long way off -- if, in fact, it ever
materialised. All of the plans for 1990 were abandoned; these included
the departure of Ace midway through the year, the introduction of a new
companion in the form of cat burglar Raine Cunningham, and possibly the
Doctor's regeneration... although producer John Nathan-Turner had
harbored hopes of persuading Sylvester McCoy to remain for a fifth
season. Officially, Nathan-Turner stayed on as Doctor Who's
producer until August 31st, 1990, when he left the BBC to form his own
independent company, Teynham Productions.

In fact, Teynham was part of a trend towards independent production
companies doing business in the United Kingdom. Increasingly, the BBC
wanted these firms to create programming which it could acquire, in a
significant departure from its traditional in-house model. More and
more, it appeared likely that this was where the future of Doctor
Who lay. Amongst the companies who approached the BBC were Limehouse
Productions, GAIA Productions, Saffron Productions (headed by former
script editor Victor Pemberton), Coast to Coast (the company which had
held the Doctor Who movie rights since July 1987), and a group
spearheaded by former script editor Gerry Davis and Dalek creator Terry
Nation. Although Nathan-Turner had long wanted to leave Doctor Who,
Teynham also made inquiries, since it would help put the company on the
map. Another production company said to be involved was Cinema Verity, run
by Doctor Who's original producer, Verity Lambert. (Cinema Verity
denied this at the time, but would later publicly declare their interest
in Doctor Who in early 1993.)

On July 12th, 1989 the BBC received a phone call from
Philip Segal of Columbia Pictures, expressing interest in Doctor Who

But perhaps the most unexpected overture received by the BBC had come in
the form of a phone call on July 12th, 1989 from Philip David Segal, who
was then working as a director of television development at Columbia
Pictures in Hollywood. Segal had been born in England, and although he had
immigrated to the United States as a teenager, he still retained fond
memories of Doctor Who. Segal wanted to forge a production
partnership between Columbia and the BBC, and had tentative interest in
Doctor Who from the American network ABC. Columbia tendered a
formal offer on October 18th, by which time the FOX network was also a
possible destination for the show. On October 27th, the BBC indicated
that they did not want to hurry into an agreement, and would not make
any decision about Doctor Who until at least 1990. Furthermore,
it appeared that the BBC was not interested in relinquishing full
creative control to Columbia, as Segal had envisioned.

However, on November 29th, Segal -- who had recently been promoted to
Manager of Drama Development at Columbia -- was contacted by Felice
Arden, a producer working on the Doctor Who feature film for
Coast to Coast. Although Segal was underwhelmed by the Coast to Coast
screenplay, they began discussing a deal whereby the motion picture
would serve as a television pilot in North America (but remain a
theatrical venture in the rest of the world), leading into a new ongoing
series. Columbia President Scott Sieglar was interested in this
proposal but, by now, the network attached was CBS and they were less
optimistic about this plan. In response, in January 1990 the BBC asked
Verity Lambert to act as the BBC's representative in discussions with
Segal. Shortly thereafter, Segal left Columbia to become Director of
Current Programming at ABC. Without his involvement, the Doctor
Who deal with Columbia was effectively dead.

Throughout 1990, the BBC tried to keep Doctor Who fans placated
with vague assurances that progress was being made on bringing the
programme back to television. Frustration peaked with a planned Day of
Protest on November 30th, when fans were encouraged to jam the BBC phone
lines with calls demanding the show's return. However, it was becoming
clear that the only source of new Doctor Who for the foreseeable
future would be in print: the comic strip in Doctor Who Magazine
had been running since 1979, while Virgin Publishing's line of original
novels -- known as Doctor Who: The New Adventures -- were so
successful when they debuted in 1991 that their frequency increased from
bimonthly to monthly in 1992. Some quasi-Doctor Who videos also
began to reach the market under the aegis of companies such as BBV, while
the Coast to Coast film struggled to find funding and an acceptable
script.

In January 1992, Philip Segal -- now working with Steven
Spielberg's production company -- renewed contact with the BBC

By the end of 1991, additional interest in producing televised Doctor
Who had come from Naked Eye Productions, Dark Light, and former
producer Derrick Sherwin. There had apparently also been discussions
regarding an animated series. Then, in January 1992, Philip Segal renewed
contact with the BBC. He had now left ABC to join Steven Spielberg's
production company, Amblin Entertainment; although Spielberg himself was
not involved, his name value provided additional impetus for the
negotiations. In June, Segal met with Max Headroom producer Peter
Wagg, who was eager to be involved in making new Doctor Who.
Nonetheless, the BBC still remained reluctant to put the programme back
into production, and the negotiations dragged on over the following
months.

In September, BBC Head of Serials Peter Cregeen decided against
authorising a special to celebrate Doctor Who's thirtieth
anniversary in November 1993. Instead, commercial arm BBC Enterprises
decided to fill the void with a direct-to-video celebratory adventure.
Producers David Jackson and Penny Mills commissioned Adrian Rigelsford
and Joanna McCaul to prepare a script; Rigelsford had co-authored the
recent non-fiction book Doctor Who: The Monsters. Graeme Harper
-- who had directed The Caves Of Androzani
and Revelation Of The Daleks in the
mid-Eighties -- signed on to direct the special, which became known as
“Lost In The Dark Dimension” and then simply “The Dark
Dimension”. The forthcoming release was announced on June 10th,
1993, by which time Rigelsford was the sole writer.

With the special attracting unanticipated levels of interest, BBC Drama
belatedly agreed to become involved, and Cregeen (who had now stepped
down as Head of Serials) replaced Jackson as Mills' fellow producer. It
was now planned to broadcast “The Dark Dimension” on BBC1 on
November 28th. Almost immediately, however, the special began to run
into problems. It was hoped that all five living Doctors would
participate in the special, but there was not enough money to have all
of them play a significant role. As such, Rigelsford had chosen to
spotlight Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor -- on the grounds that his was the
most popular incarnation -- with a secondary role for Sylvester McCoy.
This drew objections from Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison and Colin Baker,
who felt that they were being relegated to cameo appearances.
Furthermore, Philip Segal had expressed concerns that “The Dark
Dimension” might be unflatteringly conflated with the Amblin
co-production, which was now hoped to take the form of an initial
twenty-two-episode season. Although filming on “The Dark
Dimension” was due to begin on August 24th, the BBC announced on
July 9th that the project had been cancelled.

On July 9th, the BBC announced that The Dark Dimension had been cancelled

Up to this point, John Nathan-Turner had continued to maintain an
association with Doctor Who, particularly with his involvement in
the range of VHS releases from BBC Video. In late 1992, Nathan-Turner had
proposed a thirtieth-anniversary special to the BBC, only to have this
project rejected. This was one of several reasons that he declined an
offer to participate in “The Dark Dimension” as a consultant.
(He also felt that the budget was inadequate, and was wary of being
perceived as accepting a demotion.) It also made Nathan-Turner reticent
when he was then approached about an entirely separate plan to celebrate
Doctor Who's thirtieth anniversary.

Since 1980, the BBC had been running an annual charity appeal called
Children In Need. In 1983, the twentieth-anniversary special, The Five Doctors, had aired as part of the
telethon. For the 1993 edition, one of the organisers was Nick Handel of
BBC Features, who was also a friend of Nathan-Turner's. Aware that the
broadcast of Children In Need would occur close to Doctor
Who's thirtieth birthday, he suggested to Nathan-Turner in May that a
five-minute sketch might be created to herald the milestone. It would also
be an ideal vehicle for a special gimmick being employed for Children
In Need. Known as the Pulfrich Effect, it would allow viewers wearing
special glasses to watch a programme in 3-D, but would not corrupt the 2-D
image for the rest of the audience.

Although Nathan-Turner's immediate reaction was to refuse Handel's offer,
his agent soon persuaded him that this would be his opportunity to bid
farewell to Doctor Who on his own terms. Complicating matters was
Handel's desire for Nathan-Turner to not only produce the special, but
write it too. Although he had lately been giving lectures on
screenwriting, Nathan-Turner had only limited experience in this
capacity himself. Instead, he turned to one particularly enthusiastic
student called David Roden Mansell, whose professional name was David
Roden. Aware that Roden had been an avid Doctor Who viewer in his
youth, Nathan-Turner decided to invite him aboard the project.

Roden quickly produced a storyline entitled “Destination:
Holocaust”, involving the Seventh Doctor, Brigadier
Lethbridge-Stewart and the Cybermen, but Nathan-Turner immediately
dismissed it as being too expensive. In addition, he and Handel had now
decided to try to involve all of the surviving Doctors, rather than just
Sylvester McCoy. It was also now understood that the Pulfrich Effect would
require the camera to be moving almost constantly, which had not been
accounted for in “Destination: Holocaust”.

John Nathan-Turner suggested setting the special in Albert
Square, home of the soap opera EastEnders

Moreover, in response to Handel's desire that the sketch include some
element which would really attract publicity, Nathan-Turner had suggested
setting the special in Albert Square, the centrepiece of the BBC's
successful soap opera EastEnders. Handel was amenable to this idea,
and while the EastEnders production team was more cautious, they
agreed to participate. With the original five-minute project now bursting
at the seams, it was decided that it should be expanded to two episodes,
with the second installment incorporated into Noel's House Party
with Noel Edmonds, which would be broadcast the night after the main
Children In Need programme. To give the sketch even more room, it
was then agreed that episode one would be extended to seven minutes.

Nathan-Turner and Roden's script soon became known as “The
Dimensions Of Time” (an adaptation of the producer's original
suggestion, “3-Dimensions Of Time”). It was hoped that the
chief villain might be the Master, but when Anthony Ainley proved
unavailable to reprise the role, Nathan-Turner instead decided to approach
Kate O'Mara to play the Rani. The character had last appeared in McCoy's
debut story, Time And The Rani, in 1987. Her
assistant, Cyrian, was named for renowned Shakespearean actor Sir Ian
McKellen, an acquaintance of Roden's whom he hoped might be convinced to
participate.

Unfortunately, the EastEnders crossover then threw up a major
hurdle. The soap opera's production team had made allowances for just one
day of recording on “The Dimensions Of Time” at their BBC
Elstree facilities. However, the time-consuming choreography required to
accommodate the Pulfrich Effect meant that it would be impossible to
complete twelve minutes of material in such a short timeframe.
Nathan-Turner decided to start fresh without the crossover, and in July,
Roden developed a new storyline called “The Endgame”, which
pitted the Doctors against the Celestial Toymaker in an amusement park.
Handel, however, was eager to retain the EastEnders crossover, and
it was finally agreed that a second day at BBC Elstree could be set
aside for “The Dimensions Of Time”.

Originally, “The Dimensions Of Time” was to begin with a
pre-credits sequence in which Cyrian hunts a Cyberman for the Rani's
menagerie; this would have led into a later scene in which Cyrian betrays
the Rani to the Cybermen. The monsters encountered in Albert Square were
all revealed to be holograms of the creatures trapped in the menagerie,
and the Fourth Doctor was amongst those who appeared in Walford. In
addition, Nathan-Turner ensured that a scene was written to pair the Sixth
Doctor with the Brigadier, since Colin Baker was the only series star
who had not appeared on screen with Nicholas Courtney.

A scene was written for the Sixth Doctor and the
Brigadier, since Colin Baker had not appeared on screen with Nicholas
Courtney

One concern for the producer was to find a way to represent all seven
Doctors in “The Dimensions Of Time”, even though both
William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton -- who played the First and
Second Doctors -- were deceased. As such, it was decided that they would
already be trapped by the Rani, and appear as disembodied heads. Because
of the 3-D nature of the broadcast, old stills of the actors could not
be used for this purpose; instead, Nathan-Turner made arrangements with
model makers Sue Moore and Steven Mansfield to construct busts of the
two actors. This was also seen as a safeguard against the possibility of
any of the other Doctors proving unable or unwilling to appear, as they
could then be incorporated in the same manner.

In mid-August, it was decided that the end of the first episode should
present viewers with a choice of how the story might be resolved, with a
phone-in vote then raising more money for Children In Need.
Originally, there would be three options: the Brigadier saved the day, all
of the Doctors joined forces, or the Doctor forged a telepathic link with
the Rani. Soon, this was simplified to a choice between two
EastEnders regulars -- Christine Hewitt and “Big” Ron,
played by Elizabeth Power and Ron Tarr, respectively -- who would save the
Doctor from the Rani. When Nathan-Turner learned that Power was being
written out of EastEnders, the female option became Mandy Salter,
as portrayed by Nicola Stapleton.

By now, Tom Baker had indicated that he was unhappy with his intended role
in the special, so Nathan-Turner found a compromise wherein the ensnared
Fourth Doctor would broadcast an appeal for help. The setting of the start
and end scenes was also changed to Greenwich, since McCoy had other
commitments on the planned recording dates at BBC Elstree, but could make
himself available the following day. And while Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker
had committed to the project, Peter Davison was tied up in reshoots on the
movie Black Beauty, which might prevent him from taking part.

Tom Baker wanted to turn around at the end of his scene to
reveal a bullet hole through the Doctor's cheek

Although Roden had hoped to direct “The Dimensions Of Time”
himself, the assignment went to Stuart McDonald, who was also handling the
same duties on the main Children In Need programme. McDonald would
go on to direct a variety of non-fiction programming, such as
Pointless and The Apprentice. The first day of recording was
September 21st, at Fountain TV Studios in New Malden, Surrey. The main
concern was the material in the Rani's TARDIS; with Sir Ian McKellen
having declined to play Cyrian, the role had instead gone to Sam West.
Since the old TARDIS console room set had been accidentally junked
following the completion of The Greatest Show In The
Galaxy in 1988, it was originally thought that special effects
could key the Rani and Cyrian into a miniature replica. However, the
Pulfrich Effect precluded this, so a new set constructed for the
Panopticon '93 convention by Andrew Beech of Dominitemporal Services was
used instead, along with the TARDIS console (which had not been
destroyed). Tom Baker's monologue was also shot at Fountain, with the
actor thoroughly rewriting his material. He also wanted to turn around at
the end of the scene to reveal a bullet hole through the Doctor's cheek,
but Nathan-Turner was able to convince him to settle for a bruise in the
shape of a question mark.

The bulk of “The Dimensions Of Time” was then recorded on
September 22nd and 23rd, on the EastEnders backlot at BBC Elstree
in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. Although Davison had managed to ensure
his availability, the inclusion of the Doctor's various companions was a
source of uncertainty. Amongst those who had hoped to participate but
were ultimately unable to appear were Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Mary Tamm
(the first Romana) and Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka). Almost at the
last minute, Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon) also had to back out due to
a change in the shooting schedule for his soap opera Emmerdale;
fortunately, Nathan-Turner was able to bring Carole Ann Ford (Susan)
aboard at short notice. To play the various monsters, Beech assisted in
reaching out to various fans who owned their own costumes.

September 24th, the fourth and final day of filming, took the cast and
crew to Greenwich in London, beginning with the clipper Cutty Sark
which had been built in 1869. Here, Deborah Watling had to wear a cloak to
hide the fact that her arm was in a cast as a result of a rollerblading
mishap. The material involving the helicopter was then recorded at the
Royal Naval College, before the scene with Leela was taped at the National
Maritime Museum and Queen's House. Louise Jameson had agreed to reprise
the role of Leela on the condition that she would not wear her original,
skin-baring outfit. Unfortunately, the best alternative that designer Ken
Trew was able to find was an unflattering Hiawatha costume.

John Nathan-Turner approached the Pet Shop Boys for a new
arrangement of the Doctor Who theme
music

Nathan-Turner wanted a new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme
music for the special, and approached the Pet Shop Boys at Roden's
suggestion. The band was too busy to accept the offer, but did indicate
that “The Dimensions Of Time” could use their new single
Forever In Love instead; this idea was vetoed by Handel. The band
Erasure subsequently agreed to participate, but not until it was too late
for them to become involved. Instead, Nathan-Turner accepted the offer of
fan Mike Fillis, who had played the Sea Devil at BBC Elstree and had taken
the opportunity to give the producer a demo tape that he had created
with Adrian Pack under the band name Cybertech. Their fast-paced
arrangement was dubbed over an accelerated version of the McCoy-era
title sequence, after the idea of adding the TARDIS to the
EastEnders titles was deemed too costly. At this point, the
special's title was amended slightly to Dimensions In Time.

This would be Roden's only contribution to Doctor Who; his
subsequent television career saw him act as a director (on
Doctors), script editor (on Casualty and Coronation
Street) and producer (on Casualty and Holby City). It
also marked Kate O'Mara's final televised appearance as the Rani,
although she did voice the character in the audio play The Rani Reaps
The Whirlwind, released by BBV in November 2000. She continued to
act, favouring the theatre but appearing on television in episodes of
Absolutely Fabulous, Bad Girls and Benidorm,
amongst others. O'Mara was slated to return to the evil Time Lady in
The Rani Elite for Big Finish Productions, but developed ovarian
cancer and passed away on March 30th, 2014. With her blessing, Big
Finish cast Siobhan Redmond as a new incarnation of the Rani, and The
Rani Elite was released in December 2014.

The return of Doctor Who to BBC television for its thirtieth
anniversary earned the programme its first Radio Times cover in ten
years. It also drew tremendous ratings, with Children In Need's
audience spiking by four million viewers for episode one. The telephone
vote alone raised over £100,000, as Mandy (22,484 votes) bested
“Big” Ron (17,044 votes). Even though Dimensions In
Time was just a romp for charity, it hinted at the enormous affection
that the British public still held for Doctor Who. And, by now, it
appeared that the BBC was finally ready to embrace that enduring
popularity: after weeks of press rumours, the BBC had finally announced on
October 28th that they were negotiating with Amblin Entertainment to bring
Doctor Who back to television...